The suit accuses Google of infringing seven Java patents and related copyrights, and seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against continued acts of infringement.

Android certainly makes use of Java, but as the WSJ notes, it was widely believed that Google had a license for including Java in Android. On the other hand, keep in mind that Oracle owns Java as a result of its acquisitions of Sun Microsystems, a company which was widely criticized for its inability to generate significant revenue from Java. And don’t forget that Google CEO Eric Schmidt was once the CTO at Sun.

Google, already doing battle with Apple and Steve Jobs on one hand, and Microsoft and Steve Ballmer on the other, now gets to go to war with Larry Ellison.

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There are 12 comments

AUGUST 13, 2010 2:52 A.M.

Anonymous wrote:

Schmidt is nothing but a rat and a thief, his gig is up.

AUGUST 13, 2010 4:38 A.M.

Anonymous wrote:

Yeah. So where's Eric right now. What's he doing?

Larry should hire Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Drag Eric in and put him on the hot spot. Let everyone have a chance to ask him, hey dude what do you think you're doing? We have an obligation to feed our people and you're stealing our property while sleeping with that born again Christian at Verizon Wireless. What's the matter with you. Huh? I'm talking to you Schmidt!

That's how I would handle it.

Steve. Are you in?

AUGUST 13, 2010 6:43 A.M.

Henry 3 Dogg wrote:

Google has significantly built it's world on riding roughshod over other peoples IP.

I would love to see it brought to earth with a bump on this.

I suspect Oracle will make it a test case and will throw everything at it.

Sun is now a branch office of Oracle Corp. I see no evidence that Oracle’s shareholders, or that Mr Ellison, have a deep seated conviction in the merits of Open Source. Oracle are, however, deeply dependent on Java for their own and their customers use and so have secured Java.

For years there have been concerns by the Open Source purists with regard to the future of Java itself. I generally disregarded these because Sun were clearly committed to the broadest possible distribution of Java and that clear commercial motive outweighed other concerns.

Android does not exist without Java. So now that Sun is a branch office of Oracle, I would wonder about that commitment and would see Android as, at best, partially Open Sourced and potentially not even in the control of the companies that depend on it.

How long will it be before Oracle decides that it wants some big bucks out of the Android device makers?

I think the answer is simple. As long as they are growing but not making real money, then they will be left alone. But if any of them ever get to the point of making real cash flow out of Android then the Oracle shareholders will expect Mr Ellison to be round there shaking his collecting tin.

AUGUST 13, 2010 7:26 A.M.

Henry 3 Dogg wrote:

I posted the following in April. I think it still holds true.

"...Android is totally dependent on Java.

Sun is now a branch office of Oracle Corp. I see no evidence that Oracle’s shareholders, or that Mr Ellison, have a deep seated conviction in the merits of Open Source. Oracle are, however, deeply dependent on Java for their own and their customers use and so have secured Java.

For years there have been concerns by the Open Source purists with regard to the future of Java itself. I generally disregarded these because Sun were clearly committed to the broadest possible distribution of Java and that clear commercial motive outweighed other concerns.

Android does not exist without Java. So now that Sun is a branch office of Oracle, I would wonder about that commitment and would see Android as, at best, partially Open Sourced and potentially not even in the control of the companies that depend on it.

How long will it be before Oracle decides that it wants some big bucks out of the Android device makers?

I think the answer is simple. As long as they are growing but not making real money, then they will be left alone. But if any of them ever get to the point of making real cash flow out of Android then the Oracle shareholders will expect Mr Ellison to be round there shaking his collecting tin...."

AUGUST 13, 2010 8:44 A.M.

Google e multo maximus java fagioli, eya. wrote:

A new fiduciary recipe for the Android? Yum yum yummy.

AUGUST 13, 2010 10:20 A.M.

Jonathan Schwartz wrote:

The $2B in profits promise is supreme and the Java lawsuits have just begun. Oracle will be to the Java community what SCO was to the Linux community.

AUGUST 13, 2010 10:20 A.M.

Brian wrote:

As weak as the Java app development is on 'Roids, Oracle and Larry (SJ's best buddy, so they say) does own Java. Wondered how long Larry would wait to sue that out from under Google. Roid is so lame not to have it's own dedicated app delelopment like the one Apple provides essentially for FREE for Mac users to build iOS software.

AUGUST 13, 2010 10:27 A.M.

Jonathan Schwartz wrote:

I have also been promised the keys to Larry's yacht if I help him with his litigation. I'm weighing this proposal seriously.

AUGUST 13, 2010 12:04 P.M.

John Jonas wrote:

Google has become too big too soon and the industry needs to clip its wings. Google reads all these comments and monitors them as well. This is how bad this has become

It's $99 ($299 for enterprise) per year to build S/W for iPhone/iPad, it requires a Mac to do it (can't do it on Windows or Linux) and if Apple blesses your work you get the additional privilege of giving Apple 30% of your revenues. Hardly "FREE".

About Tech Trader Daily

Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.